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Meditation for Spiritual Union with God

Mystical Marriage of the soul and Christ

If anyone spiritual is seeking union with God from a Christian perspective, then one should look no farther than the meditations of St. Teresa of Avila. Her meditative classic, “The Interior Castle” supplies the reader with numerous ideas and spiritual advice.

Her first and foremost fundamental principle is that if one wishes to enter into union with God, they must seek God through prayer and meditation. She emphasizes that meditation is important because one must focus upon the words of any prayer. Through prayer and meditation, a person can begin to experience the joys of God.

St. Teresa, however, understands the fallen nature of man. She also understands the traps and deceptions of the evil one. As one enters into the first “mansions” of the castle or soul, they are besought with conflicts to do good or evil. While the spirituality of the first mansions deal with prayer, good works and contemplation, the spiritual traveler must fight off the evil one and submit one’s will to God.

The final mansions involve the courtship of the soul with God. The soul falls in love with God via romantic analogy and eventually finds mystical marriage and union. In this union, God stays with the soul and sustains it with his intimate presence. Both the will of creator and creation share the same goals.

St. Teresa finds the mystical marriage with the Lord to be the greatest gift the soul can be given by God in this temporal reality. In it, the soul has purged itself from temporal gains and has submitted its will to God’s will. The soul is filled with a burning love and basks in the love of God. While in earlier states, the soul does experience occasional illuminations, esctasies and visions, this final state rises the soul to a more secure and consistent union with the Lord that also allows the soul to carry on with its daily duties.

If you are interested in learning more about Christian meditationor other topics, review our program and also review the “Interior Castle”.